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Study finds most kids’ meals are salt, fat bombs

Only 12 of more than 3,000 options at major U.S. chains provide adequate nutrition for children, researchers find

In a study of 3,000 fast foot options, U.S. researchers found only 12 meals that would provide adequate nutrition to preschoolers. (David Paul Morris / Getty Images)

By Allison CrossStaff Reporter

Mon., Nov. 8, 2010

Only 12 meals of more than 3,000 combinations at major fast-food restaurants provide adequate nutrition for children ages 2 to 5, a new U.S. study shows.

About 15 of the meals provide adequate nutrition for older children, say researchers at Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, who examined menu items at eight major restaurant chains for their total calories, sodium, fat and sugar content in a study of nutrition and advertising tactics.

“Most of the restaurants have a healthy side and a healthy beverage that can go with the kids’ meals but the main items have a lot of saturated fat and a lot of sodium that make them not good choices,” said lead researcher Jennifer Harris, director of marketing initiatives at the Rudd Center.

Harris and her team presented their findings Monday at the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting in Denver, Col.

Subway offers the best meal choice for kids, according to the study. A veggie delite sandwich (on wheat bread with no cheese) along with apple slices and a 100 per cent juice has 285 calories. The meal contains 295 mg of sodium and zero calories from saturated fat.

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Researchers didn’t rank the worst meal options because there were too many contenders.

On the list, however, is a Taco Bell bean burrito, which when combined with a side of cinnamon twists and a Mountain Dew Baja Blast drink, has 760 calories, 1,530 mg of sodium and 284 calories from sugar.

KFC’s popcorn chicken with a side biscuit, string cheese and Mountain Dew has 840 calories, 1,610 mg of sodium and 99 calories from saturated fat.

Both meals have more sodium than Health Canada recommends for children under 9: the agency suggests children ages 1 to 3 don’t consume more than 1,000 mg of sodium per day. Four to 8-year-olds shouldn’t exceed 1,200 mg, and children over 9 shouldn’t exceed 1,500 mg.

Although fast-food restaurants usually offer healthy side options and drinks for kids, the default choice is almost always something unhealthy like French fries and pop, Harris said.

“We found that parents were more likely to buy the kids meal for . . . their preschoolers than they were for their older children,” she said. “Preschoolers should only be eating about 420 calories in a lunch or dinner and most of those meals had about 600.”

Depending on their activity level, children ages 2 to 5 should consume between 1,100 and 1,650 calories per day, recommends Health Canada.

The study also noted the effect of fast-food marketing aimed at kids. Forty per cent of children ages 2 and 11 ask their parents to eat at McDonald’s at least once a week, the study said, while 15 per cent of preschoolers expressed an interest in going every day.

These statistics aren’t surprising, Harris said, because the average preschooler sees about three advertisements for fast food every day. Kids aged 6 to 11 see three and a half.

“We want to educate parents and educate legislators about what is happening,” Harris said. “Restaurants aren’t going to listen to us but they are going to listen to their customers if they demand better food and less marketing.”

In addition to Subway, Taco Time, KFC, Dairy Queen and McDonald’s, the study also reviewed meals from Wendy’s, Sonic and Burger King.

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